Sound Bank, with one location in Wilmington, announced merger plans Friday.
 
The Morehead City-based bank announced that it has signed a definitive merger agreement with West Town Bancorp Inc., the Raleigh-based parent company of West Town Bank & Trust (WTBT) in North Riverside, Illinois.
 
“Upon completion of the transaction, the combined bank will operate under the name Sound Bank from branch offices in both North Carolina and Illinois,” officials stated in a news release. 
 
The combined entity will have about $485 million in assets, about $374 million in loans and about $384 million in deposits, based upon reported amounts as of December 31, the release stated. 
 
In connection with the merger, West Town has entered into securities purchase agreements with a limited number of institutional and other accredited investors to sell a total of 453,480 shares of West Town common stock, $1 par value, at a purchase price of $23 per share and 30,739 shares of a non-voting, convertible, perpetual preferred stock, Series A, $100 par value, at a purchase price of $230 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $17.5 million.
 
Following the merger, Eric Bergevin, West Town’s current president and CEO, will become CEO of the combined bank. S. Phillip Collins, Sound Bank’s current president and CEO, will become the new entity’s president, according to the release. Four non-employee members of Sound Bank’s existing board of directors will join the seven existing members of the West Town Bancorp and WTBT boards of directors to lead the combined organization.
 
“It’s truly a merger that has synergies on both sides,” Mark Johnson, Sound Bank's New Hanover market executive said Friday. “We’re picking up two North Carolina branches – one in Greenville and one in Edenton, and everything on our end is going to be enhanced.”

Currently, Sound Bank has six locations in coastal North Carolina.
 
Merging with West Town means enhanced online banking capabilities and mobile banking services for Sound Bank customers, Johnson said. He noted also that the combined bank will offer more deposit services, insurance and mortgage originations.
 
“[West Town] also has a fantastic SBA lending group,” he added. “Everything on our end is going to be enhanced, and we’ll have more capital to get out there and make loans with in the community."
 
Johnson said local customers should not see any staffing changes at the Wilmington branch.
 
Speaking for West Town, Bergevin said in the release, “The combined bank offers a unique and highly attractive community bank franchise in contiguous markets in Eastern North Carolina that will expand branch access for the bank’s customers.  Sound Bank’s traditional community banking franchise rooted with a strong core deposit base will also complement West Town’s substantial fee income business driven by our national SBA/USDA and residential lending platforms.”
 
The transaction is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2017, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and the approval of the merger by the shareholders of Sound Bank, the release stated.